Garment bone



Feb. 13, 1962 M. SOBEL GARMENT BONE Filed May 2, 1960 FIG. 2

FIG. 3

INVENTOR Morton Sobel MM ATTORNEY United States Patent 3,020,557 GARMENT BONE Morton Sobel, Easton, Pa. Filed May 2, 1960, Ser. No. 25,980

2 Claims. (Cl. 2--260) This invention relates 'to stiffening members generally used in undergarments, and more particularly known .in the undergarment industry as boning members, or stays.

The modern undergarments, such as girdles and corsets, generally employ stretchable fabrics or a combination of stretchable and non-stretchable fabric in working out a system of support for the body of a wearer. stiffening members are often relied upon to achieve reinforcement or in some instances to effect a modification in the degree of stretch of such garments. stiffening members, stays, or bones of a suitable semirigid material, such as steel wires, are generally used and have replaced whale bones used in earlier days.

The bones thus employed are generally secured to the garment by being ensheathed in an elongated pocket formed in the fabric of the garment. In order to attain a further degree of stability of such bone, stitching or a special tacking operation, spanning and gripping the bone must be employed. It is obvious that if the conventional steel bone is improperly positioned relative to a sewing needle, so that the needle strikes the bone needle, breakage will occur. Sharp ends of the wire bone stabbing through layers of fabric have also posed a problem in the use of steel bones. In an attempt to avoid the problem of such wire stabbing through the fabric, metal caps have been employed to blunt its ends. In the use of metal caps, however, the problem of sewing the bone to the garment, involving a careful tacking operation, still persists. An attempt to employ plastic caps has only been partially successful in blunting the sharp ends of a metal bone. Where any appreciable length has been added to such plastic cap, the average pressure of the body of a wearer has been sufiicient to fracture and break the plastic structure, leaving the sharp end of the bone exposed. It has further been found that although such plastic tips may be adapted to be sewn therethrough, any slight pressure or flexing of the tip will cause fracture and breakage of the tip.

It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a bone or stiffening member which is adapted to be secured to an undergarment by sewing therethrough,

A further object of the present invention is to provide a cap or tip, appended to a conventional bone member, having pressure relief means therein allowing for relative flexibility of the tip and freedom from fracture and breakage even upon the application of body pressure produced by normal body movement.

Another object of the present invention is the provision of a plastic tip secured to the end of a metal stay and provided with pressure relief means which will allow such plastic tip complete flexibility and be further adapted to receive a needle therethrough for securement of the stay to an undergarment.

In accomplishing the foregoing and other objects of the present invention, there is provided, in a conventional metal stay, an elongated plastic tip integrally secured to the free end of a metal stay. The plastic tip is specially provided with pressure relief means in the body thereof so that such tip may be flexed without fracturing and breaking. Provision is further made in such tip to allow incorporation, by sewing, of the metal stay to an undergarment.

Other and further objects and advantages of the present invention will be apparent to those versed in the art from the following description of an embodiment of the invention illustrated in the drawing, in which like reference characters refer to like parts in theseveral views, and in which:

FIG. 1 shows a portion of a garment, .suchas .a girdle, into which a bone has been incorporated;

FIG. 2 isv a plan view of the bone .seen inFIG. .1;

.FIG. 3 is aside view of the bone as seen in FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is an enlarged view of one end .ofthe bone according to the present invention; and r FIG. 5 is a sectional view taken on line 5-5.of.FIG. 4.

Referring now to the drawing, there .is illustrated a bone 10 having a comparatively narrow body portion 11 joined to plastic ends 12, 13 at each end thereof. The body portion 11, in the embodiment shown, is made of formed wire in a reversing pattern. It is to be understood, however, that bones or stays of semi-flexible resilient material such as spiraling, bent, zig-zag wire or fiat steel may be used.

The plastic ends 12, 13 may vary in length according to the requirements of a particular stay. Thus, where incorporation of a bone is desired within a garment, a relatively elongated plastic tip 12 is more desirable. Where, however, the purpose of the plastic tip is merely to prevent stabbing by the sharp ends of the body 11 into fabric layers, a relatively shorter tip 13 is used. Except for relative size, each of the tips 12, 13 is a mirror image of the other and reference will therefore be made to tip 12 in describing the present invention.

The plastic tip 12 may be fabricated of a semi-flexible resilient material, preferably of any of the well known plastics such as polyethylene, polystyrene, nylon, or vinylite among others, and comprises a rear portion 14 adapted to tightly envelop the convolutions at the end of the body portion 11 or a steel bone, to form a unified structure. The enveloping of such tip 12 to the body 11 of the bone, can be achieved during the actual casting operation of the plastic ends 12, 13 by providing a die for casting, into which the ends of the body portion 11 will fit for envelopment by the plastic, of such ends.

A forward portion 15 is provided with a relatively flat surface, serving as the sewing portion and is adapted to receive a needle therethrough, when it is desired to secure the bone 10 to a garment.

The medial portion 16 of the plastic tip 12, bounded by the rear 14 and forward portion 15 of the tip, is provided with pressure relief means comprising an aperture 17 centrally located therein, and projecting through the depth of the tip 12. The front and rear surface of the medial portion is slightly depressed inwardly so as to yield a concave configuration when viewed laterally.

It is to be noted that the pressure relief means composed of the aperture 17 and the concave medial portion 16 effectively relieve pressure of the undersection 18 of the plastic tip when in a flexed position, thereby preventing fracturing or breaking of such tip 12 and allowing for a flexing of of such tip in either direction from the body portion of the stay 11.

When incorporating the bone 10 of the present invention into a garment 20, a portion of which is illustrated in FIG. 1, a pocket 21 is formed by stitching an overlaying fabric so as to ensheath the bone 10. The bone 10 may now be secured to the garment 20 by a line of stitching 22 passing through the tip 12 in the forward portion 15 thereof, without danger of damage to the sewing needle. Thus, the bone may be incorporated into the girdle structure without it being required that there be a special operation for such integration.

While a specific embodiment of the present invention has been described, it is apparent that changes and modifications may be made therein and such modified structures will still fall within the ambit of the present invention.

substantially wider than the thickness of said end member measured between said side surfaces, said end member further having a hole substantially centered in said intermediate portion and extending through the latter perpendicular to said opposed side surfaces to relieve 15 stresses in said plastic material at said side surfaces and thereby avoid tearing and fracturing 01': said end member upon flexing of the latter about a laterally extending axis.

2. A bone as in claim 1; wherein said side surfaces of the end member are concave at said intermediate portion, thereby to provide a reduced cross-sectional area in the region of said hole.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,147,454 Somers July 20, 1915 2,908,913 Sobel Oct. 20, 1959 2,93 8,215 Schwartz May 31, 1960 

